Evaluating "Native American" websites

[Debbie Reese <d-reese@UIUC.EDU>]

Good morning -

There is an excellent site, developed by Elaine Cubbins
at the University of Arizona, that you can use to evaluate
websites that purport to have Native American/American
Indian content. Cubbins begins with a few short paragraphs.
Here's the text of the 2nd one:

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American Indian peoples live in the real world, and Web
sites by and about Indian peoples live on the Web. Just
as Indians are sometimes treated fairly in the real world,
the Web contains sites that show Indians in respectful
ways with accurate information, quality products to sell,
and as whole human beings with real lives. Just as Indian
peoples are sometimes treated wrongly in the real world,
the Web also contains sites that use inaccurate and
damaging "information", and portray Native peoples
as either less or more than human, or as products to be
exploited and sold in some fashion (especially Native
spirituality).

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

She follows with a set of questions divided in three
categories: those you'd use generally (for any site),
those you'd use to determine the authorial validity
of the site, and those you'd use when looking at
content of sites specific to Native American culture.
Here's a couple of examples:

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If the site claims to represent a tribe or a tribal view,
is there information supporting the claim that it is an
"official" or authorized Web site for the tribe?

     Welcoming statements by tribal leaders, links to
information about services for tribal members, and
claims of the official nature of a site are possible
clues, but are not conclusive evidence to identifying
a tribe's official site. When in doubt, find out from a
reliable source: call, write or email the tribe and ask.
A good indication is if a server is owned by the tribe,
but tribes do not always own the server where their
official Web sites are located. For an example of this,
see the tribal web site for the Miami Nation at
http://www.geocities.com/RainForest/7156/



If the site builder self-identifies as Indian, is tribal
affiliation identified? Is the word used to identify the
tribe accurate?

     It is very easy for people to misrepresent themselves
on the Web, and "playing Indian" is unfortunately common.
     For example, a person who identifies only as "Native
American" or "American Indian" leaves much open to
question since most Native peoples identify themselves
in connection to a particular tribe rather than under general
terminology.
     Tribal identification is often very specific. For example,
rather than identifying simply under the "catch-all" name
of Sioux, people who are generalized under this tribal
affiliation often are more specific about Sioux identity
(i.e., Rosebud Sioux, Oglala Sioux), or self-identify as
being Dakota, Lakota, or Nakota, and usually even more
specifically within each of these tribal groups. Language,
post-contact history, and culture are similar but not identical
for these tribes, and although they identify closely with each
other, each is unique. The word Sioux comes from a mispronun-
ciation by French traders of an Anishinaabeg word nadonesiouweg
meaning "people who act like snakes". The Anishinaabeg and
the Dakota, Lakota, and Nakota were traditional enemies.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

From personal experience, we know there are literally
thousands of sites out there with Native content.
I've found Cubbins guidelines invaluable in terms
of locating ones students and teachers can use as
valuable sources for information. The URL is:
http://www.u.arizona.edu/~ecubbins/webcrit.html

Please note: I'll be away from email from 9-30 to
10-5.

Debbie Reese







_________________________________

Debbie Reese, Doctoral Student
Dept. of Curriculum and Instruction
College of Education, University of Illinois
Champaign, IL 61820

Telephone: 217-244-8286
Fax: 217-244-4572
Email: d-reese@uiuc.edu
_________________________________

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